


Making Space

by merulanoir



Category: Dishonored (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Asexual Daud, F/M, M/M, Selectively Mute Corvo Attano, royal OT3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2020-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:35:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28242489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merulanoir/pseuds/merulanoir
Summary: The Royal Protector dies when Jessamine is nineteen.What follows is a mad scramble as all the Isles send candidates for the post, and Jessamine knows all eyes are on her; she is older now, an adult, and her pick will be political. It will reflect on how she views her future empire.She sees them on the second day of the proceedings.
Relationships: Corvo Attano/Daud/Jessamine Kaldwin
Comments: 14
Kudos: 72





	Making Space

**Author's Note:**

> Does exactly what it says on the tin.

**ONE**

The Royal Protector dies when Jessamine is nineteen. Zacharias was good at his job, and that ultimately decided his fate; Jessamine has nightmares about his last words for months. 

What follows is a mad scramble as all the Isles send candidates for the post, and Jessamine knows all eyes are on her; she is older now, an adult, and her pick will be political. It will reflect on how she views her future empire.

The candidates are strong and skilled. She knows the court wants her to pick someone from Gristol. Zacharias was from Dunwall, a distant relative of Jessamine’s in fact. The Royal Protector is usually Gristolian, usually noble. They need to understand the way the court works. Zacharias had been raised to become an officer of the Watch, and when he tried for the position of the Royal Protector he was just a lieutenant. Jess chose him because he made her laugh.

Jessamine sees them on the second day of the proceedings. 

There is a man who looks as Serkonan as they come; dark, curly hair, dusky skin, deep brown eyes, and a smile so shy she almost misses it. It’s not thrown in her direction; it’s meant for his friend. He is taller and broader of frame. He, too, looks Serkonan, but less obviously. His hair is close-cropped and there is a wicked scar on his face. His voice is like gravel as he barks an insult to someone slighting his friend. His friend doesn’t appear to speak.

Jessamine’s gaze is glued on them. She learns the tall, broad one is called Daud. He is a good fighter, but there is something dark about him, according to her advisor. The quiet one is Corvo, and he is the youngest person to ever win the Blade Verbena. He is serving in the Grand Guard, as is Daud. Some digging reveals they are childhood friends, that Corvo’s family (poor, working class) took Daud in when his mother (a herbalist, possibly even a heretic) died. Nothing about them makes them look like they qualify for the post.

She is not supposed to approach the candidates on her own, so the surprise in Daud’s eyes is understandable when he opens the door to their temporary rooms and finds himself face to face with the future empress. He recovers quickly, and Jessamine notes how instantly he smooths his face into a polite mask.

“Your royal highness,” Daud says, bowing. “What can I help you with?” His bow is stiff but meets every standard. It makes Jess think he must’ve learned it from the books.

Jessamine steps in and, to the horror of the guards tailing her, closes the door. Daud backs away and stands even stiffer. Corvo has only now understood who exactly has entered their room, and is trying to make himself presentable. His hair is open and Jessamine averts her gaze when he hastily tucks his shirt in.

“Please, be at ease,” Jessamine says. She meets Corvo’s eye, and the man blushes. He can’t be much older than twenty. Up close, he is breathtakingly handsome. Both of them are, but where Corvo is lithe and has delicate features, Daud commands her attention effortlessly. His face is tight with nerves, and Jess doesn’t bother trying to soothe them. It won’t work, if she has learned anything of the man.

“I wanted to talk with you in private,” she says, sitting down. “May I ask you a few questions?”

She notices Daud throwing a puzzled glance at Corvo. People with royal blood don’t usually bother requesting, a fact that nags at Jessamine. Finally Corvo nods, and after a pause so does Daud. The latter still looks wary as he steps away from the door. His shoulders drop, and Corvo immediately relaxes, too.

“What made you apply for this position?” Jessamine asks. She has no need for court games now. Her future protector needs to understand that sometimes pretty words can only slow you down.

Corvo actually snorts a laugh. When Jessamine looks at him, he blushes again and then turns to Daud, eyes wide. Instead of speaking his hands move, and something excited unfurls inside Jess’ chest at the sight.  _ Handspeak,  _ she thinks. Corvo is clearly fluent, and so is his friend. Daud sighs. He nods to Corvo.

“We...didn’t.”

“Excuse me?” It’s rare for Serkonos to send a candidate. To get two is unheard of. Corvo looks at his feet and chews on his lip. Daud sighs again, this time resigned.

“They wanted to send just him.” Daud’s voice is sad. Jessamine catches him glancing at Corvo again. “But since Corvo...doesn’t speak, I made them take me along.” 

Jessamine can sense it’s not the whole story. Not even close.

“Can you speak?” she asks Corvo before she thinks better of it. Corvo’s blush deepens into a steady crimson and he averts his gaze. His lips move, but no sound comes out. And then, before she can truly react, Daud steps closer and grips his shoulder.

“He’s not stupid,” Daud says. His voice is full of anger, and it’s now directed at Jessamine. She knows she made a mistake, and her mind is already whirring as she thinks how she wants to apologize. But not now. 

“I never thought he was,” Jessamine says in a level tone. She gives Corvo a softer smile when he finally meets her eye again, and he hesitantly smiles back. Daud visibly relaxes at that. Then he perks up when Jessamine clears her throat.

“Does either of you have ties that hold you back in Serkonos?”

The court rebels at the proposal to hire two Serkonans for the post. Jessamine keeps her head, and that is how Corvo and Daud become her Royal Protectors.

**TWO**

Jessamine is glad to see her instinct was right. Corvo and Daud are very good at what they do once they find their footing. She likes to think she is reforming the function of the Royal Protector. Why trust her safety to a single soul, when she can have two people she trusts? Corvo and Daud are like night and day, but they complement each other; Corvo remains quiet but his reputation as a superb swordsman elevates him above the status of a simple bodyguard. Daud fights plain dirty when he has to, but his forte lies in defusing situations before they become dangerous. He has a keen eye for politics and subterfuge, and sometimes Jessamine jokes that when she becomes empress she will simply name Daud her spymaster. 

It’s easy to grow close with them. Daud and Corvo appreciated Jessamine asking if they  _ wanted  _ the post, and the morning after their first meeting they told her they’d accept. All three of them started their shared future from a place of understanding, Jess felt. 

What she does not expect is how easy it is to love them.

She suspects Corvo and Daud are closer than they let her see. Their rooms are directly adjacent to hers, and before long they are all coming and going as they please. Jess gets used to finding them spending the vast majority of their free time together. When she accidentally catches Corvo pressing a kiss to the corner of Daud’s mouth she only feels content. She is twenty-one, she loves them both more than she thought possible, and the sight of Daud’s shoulders thawing as he pulls Corvo close makes her stomach swoop. Daud holds Corvo with familiarity that speaks of years spent together. 

When Jessamine asks Corvo about it, later that week, she is surprised to hear the truth.

Asking Corvo is easy; he is not even remotely shy, not anymore. He doesn’t give a fig about court etiquette when it’s just the two of them. Jessamine is hard-pressed to think of anyone she trusts more than Corvo, save Daud, of course.

_ Together?  _ Corvo asks. He frowns.  _ No. We’re not. _

_ I saw you kiss him.  _ Jessamine loves the handspeak. She uses it with Corvo and sometimes Daud, too. 

Corvo bites his lip and shrugs, smiling a little.  _ We do that. Sometimes.  _

Jessamine rolls her eyes.  _ I don’t kiss my friends.  _

_ We’re not...together. I swear.  _ Corvo’s eyes are intense, and that alone tells Jess that he wouldn’t mind being together with Daud. It’s so plain to see if you know where to look, she thinks. Daud and Corvo love each other. They have been looking out for each other for years, and somewhere along the line they have started to take comfort in each other. They just...have not talked about what they both want.

Jessamine spends a long time pondering on this. Can she try to insert herself into that combination? Is there room for her, an empress?

Daud is slow to warm. Corvo gave Jess a name-sign two weeks in; it took Daud half a year to call her  _ Jessamine  _ instead of  _ you royal highness.  _ Daud is dependable, he enjoys court gossip at least as much as she does, and sometimes he pulls Jess closer when it’s just the three of them; he claims it’s just to make sure she doesn’t catch a cold, but Jess can feel how he grows softer, then. 

Corvo is a mystery, but one Jess knows she’d enjoy spending the rest of her life solving. She’s heard him say a few words here and there, but mostly he speaks with his hands. Corvo doesn’t believe in personal space with either of them, and at some point Jess just started to treat him as an adult-sized pillow in private. Leaning on Corvo is comfortable and safe, and it would be enough if she didn’t dream about kissing him while she does it. Kissing him, and then dragging Daud closer as well.

**THREE**

“You idiot.” Jess doesn’t care that her hair has come undone or that she is soaked to the bone. She jerkily toes off her ruined shoes and then chucks the left one at Daud for good measure. The man catches it out of sheer reflex and vinces when he remembers he is injured.

Jess takes a deep breath, her nostrils flaring. Corvo is hovering behind her, and by the way his fingers twitch Jess knows he, too, is angry. The kind of angry that follows you watching someone you love almost die because they’re a self-sacrificing  _ idiot  _ who jumps on a grenade and pushes others overboard.

Daud settles back into the bed carefully. He drops the shoe to the floor. His torso and arms are covered in bandages, and Jess doesn’t want to think about his foot, or whether he will ever walk again.

“I won’t say I’m sorry,” Daud says mulishly. His right eye looks awful, the sclera crimson with broken blood vessels.“I still think it was the—”

“Bullshit!” Jess shrieks, just when Corvo stomps to the bed and cuffs Daud to the less-bruised side of his head. It’s gentle, but it makes Daud grunt a complaint, and Jess feels slightly hysteric. All she can think of is the way Corvo shouted when they fell into the Wrenhaven, and the explosion lighting up the world above them a mere second later. The half an hour the guards spent searching for Daud before fishing him out looking like a corpse.

_ You promised you wouldn’t be stupid,  _ Corvo signs with a furious frown. His snarls when Daud tries to look away, and then yanks him closer. Jess watches as Corvo presses his forehead against Daud’s and takes several shuddering breaths. Daud closes his eyes and presses his lips tightly together as if to hold his feelings in check, and right then she can’t handle it any longer.

She has seen Daud looking at her and Corvo. Corvo kissed her a month ago and must’ve told Daud, because ever since Daud has been cagey and taciturn. He withdrew from both of them, clearly drawing his own conclusions. Jess tried to talk to him, but Daud was a master of deflecting. Even Corvo had been similarly stymied, until today. 

Jess crawls onto the bed until she is huddled against Daud. She yanks his arm slightly too hard until he wraps it around her. He’s stiff again, but Corvo isn’t letting him pull away. The three of them end up close, Jess and Corvo still shivering in their wet clothes and Daud naked to his waist and ready to bolt.

“You are not allowed to die,” Jess bites out. Daud finally looks at her, oddly helpless, and Jess wants to scream. She has been trying to show Daud that he is loved for over a year. With Corvo it was so easy, like slipping on a well-worn glove. With Daud, it has been fits and jerks that unerringly lead to awkward silences and stilted breakfasts.

“Figured that’s what you hired me for.” Daud tries to sound self-deprecating, but he is hurt badly enough for the true feeling to shine through; he has been worried sick that Corvo has grown bored of him, that Jess will abandon him, that he will be the odd one out.

(Corvo told Jess that Daud still kisses him back but no longer initiates anything. He’s careful, so careful, and pushing both of them away appears to be his last defense mechanism.)

Instead of trying to tame her roiling thoughts into words Jess just tucks her face against Daud’s. Her nose brushes his, and she feels the hot waft of air as Daud’s breath hitches. 

“Jess—” his voice is strangled, and finally he is holding her more firmly against himself. Corvo presses closer to them both and fumbles until he can grab Jess’ free hand. Her right one is cupping Daud’s head, his neck muscles bunched under her fingers.

“Stop running away,” Jess murmurs. She wants to close her eyes and kiss Daud. She wants to kiss Corvo again. She wants to stop pretending that she isn’t in love with both of her best friends, and give them everything they deserve. “I’m not choosing him, I’m choosing you both.”

Daud’s head jerks as he meets her eye properly, and for one horrible second Jess thinks he will withdraw again. His gray eyes are wide and alarmed, but when Corvo lets out a broken little laugh the tension snaps; Daud makes a wordless sound that sounds like a plea, and Jess folds. She catches his mouth gently, and steals his next breath for herself. Daud is starting to shiver under her palm, and Jess feels Corvo’s hair tickle her face as he kisses Daud’s face, his hair, everything he can reach until they break free and he can kiss Daud too.

Jess tucks her face into Daud’s neck and finally breathes out. She is suddenly feeling exhausted, and Corvo launching into another flurry of angry signs barely registers. For a second Jess thinks about her earlier half-baked plan of kicking Hiram Burrows out of the Tower and the post of the spymaster, but then Daud presses a hesitant kiss to her forehead and she tucks the idea away. She has more pressing issues to attend to.

**LATER**

Emily inherits Corvo’s dark hair and Jess’ pale skin. At nine, she is tall for her age like her father (the worst-kept secret in the Tower,) but what she learns from Daud shapes her just as much as her blood. Emily is quick-witted and observant, and prone to endless amounts of mischief. Jess loves her more than anything. So do Corvo and Daud.

The rumors about Emily and Corvo being related got out somehow, and after much discussion Jess, Corvo, and Daud decided to let them circulate. The truth is wrapped up in the lie too tightly, and untangling could do more harm than good. The Tower staff gives Corvo sideways glances that range from jealous to mirthful, and he shoulders them with his usual style; so blunt obliviousness that sometimes he fools even Jess. He never fools Daud. 

The thing that bothered Jessamine and Corvo about the rumors was not the fact that them sleeping together had gotten out. It was the exclusion of one third of what had become vital, because there wasn’t a peep about Daud being anything more to her than the spymaster. Jess spent a long time considering righting the incorrect assumptions, but eventually Daud convinced her and Corvo to leave it be. He didn’t mind no one but their small family knowing that he was more than a close friend.

Sometimes, when they settle for sleep and Jess worms herself between Corvo and Daud she remembers the first months: Daud being in pain and getting used to the prosthetic leg, Daud being cranky because he was uncertain of what Jess wanted, of what Corvo wanted, and what he himself wanted. It still elicits a flutter of tender amusement when Jess thinks of the first time she and Corvo finally managed to convince Daud to share the bed.

“I’m not going to fuck you,” Daud said the second he stepped into the room, and if he hadn’t been blushing Jess might’ve been fooled by his gruff exterior. “Corvo can stick his dick wherever he likes, but I’m not going to.”

Corvo threw a pillow at Daud who flipped him off, but when they finally settled into the bed together Daud unwound. Eventually Jess learned how to touch him, just like she learned how to touch Corvo. Sharing different parts with each other was much easier than she expected, because there was room for her; there had always been a place for her.


End file.
